Compare the2024 Toyota CrownVS 2024 Volkswagen Arteon

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Crown have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Volkswagen Arteon doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Crown are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Arteon doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Crown has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Arteon doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The Crown’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Arteon doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Crown and the Arteon have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Crown its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 67 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Arteon has not been fully tested, yet.

Toyota’s powertrain warranty covers the Crown 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Volkswagen covers the Arteon. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Arteon ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The Crown’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Arteon’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

There are almost 2 times as many Toyota dealers as there are Volkswagen dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Crown’s warranty.

The battery on the Crown is in the trunk, which protects it from hot underhood temperatures that can degrade battery life. By keeping the Crown’s battery 20 to 30 degrees cooler, its life is increased by years. The Arteon’s battery is in the hot engine compartment.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are better in initial quality than Volkswagen vehicles. With 55 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Toyota higher than Volkswagen.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota above average in long-term dependability. With 34 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Volkswagen is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota second in overall reliability. Volkswagen is ranked 27th.

The Crown Platinum’s standard 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 40 more horsepower (340 vs. 300) and 105 lbs.-ft. more torque (400 vs. 295) than the Arteon’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

On the EPA test cycle the Crown gets better mileage than the Arteon:

Regenerative brakes improve the Crown’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Arteon doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The Crown has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Arteon doesn’t offer a CVT.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Crown offers optional 21-inch wheels. The Arteon’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Crown is .6 inches wider in the front and 1.3 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Arteon.

For better maneuverability, the Crown’s turning circle is 1 foot tighter than the Arteon’s (38 feet vs. 39 feet).

The Crown has .3 inches more front headroom, .9 inches more front legroom, .9 inches more front hip room, .6 inches more front shoulder room, .4 inches more rear headroom, 6.6 inches more rear hip room and .4 inches more rear shoulder room than the Arteon.

With its sedan body style, locking rear seatbacks and remote trunk release lockout, the Crown offers cargo security. The Arteon’s hatchback body style and non-lockable folding seat defeat cargo security.

The Crown Platinum’s Advanced Park can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Arteon SEL Premium’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Toyota Crown and the Volkswagen Arteon, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Toyota Crown outsold the Volkswagen Arteon by over 8 to one during 2023.